Histories - Herodotus

Advantages: Some intriguing insights
Disadvantages: Not great literature

...After finding himself on the losing side in an attempted coup d’état Herodotus is exiled from his home city of Helicarnassus in southern Greece and undertakes some of the journeys described in his famed “Histories”. The complete “Histories” is available in a number of translations and gives the full discourse of his enquiries into the causes of the Greco-Persian wars. Indeed not only is he named as the father of ‘history’ but is credited with coining the very word itself. The style – to modern eyes and ears – is stilted…but this is a language from centuries ago, and it may have suffered in translation. Certainly, we should recall that although Herodotus himself is credited with writing down his thoughts and findings, he came from an oral tradition. What survives are the speech notes…he would have declaimed with much addition... Read review

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Advantages: A good global perspective on racial history issues
Disadvantages: A few research items (bibliography, footnoting) could have been better

...This book has a statement in its epilogue that is among the best I've ever seen as a match between the subject matter and the purpose of the book itself - Michael A. Gomez writes of the growth of reconnection between Africa proper and those scattered around the world, stating that, `Given the ongoing impoverishment of many in Africa and the Diaspora, such interrelationships require deeper and more practical meaning if they are to play a significant role in ending the despair. The incredible beauty and creativity of the African Diaspora, combined with its unbelievable suffering and disadvantage, are contradictions awaiting resolution.' Gomez is a professor of history at NYU, a university that offers degree programmes in the study of the African Diaspora. Gomez remarks on the value of the interactions with people at the university... Read review

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Advantages: history that is accessible and entertaining, well presented
Disadvantages: none except for my poor make up thanks to the woad incident

..., so the book covers a 2 school years when used as part of a curriculum), but being budget minded, we used the free online edition over at the Baldwin Project, alternated with recordings of the chapters offered for free by the Librivox website. Nothing quite substitutes for a real paper book though, so the price down to reasonable levels, and nothing else pressing for funds, we bought this edition. So what it is, you ask? Well, it is a history book of sorts. I say of sorts, for it is more a collection of myths, fables, and history woven together. It pretty much is a group of stories to introduce children to British history. From King Neptune and Albion, to Brutus, to the Romans and beyond all the way to Queen Victoria, what we have here is an unashamed collection of tales told in chronological order that paints a history of Britain... Read review

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